


that's chaos

by sapphire_child



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Chaos Theory, Community: then_theres_us, F/M, Gen, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-20
Updated: 2010-03-20
Packaged: 2019-01-27 23:29:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12592952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire_child/pseuds/sapphire_child
Summary: The Doctor tries to explain chaos theory to Rose.





	that's chaos

It was a quiet day. A library day. A sit in the TARDIS and relax sort of day.

At least it was for the Doctor. Rose had itchy feet. She couldn’t sit still, couldn’t commit to any one book, any one chair. If it hadn’t been so distracting it could have been endearing.

After finally giving up on her fifth or sixth book however she lolled backwards over the arm of her chair and squinted over at the Doctor hopefully.

“So...what’s chaos theory then?” she asked lazily.

The Doctor looked up at her over the top of his glasses. “Depends. Have you got a decade or two spare for me to explain it to you properly?”

Rose rolled her eyes.

“Can’t you just give me the condensed version?” she coaxed, still lolling half upside down. “Like, ‘Chaos Theory for Dummies’ or something? You’re good at dumbing things down so I can understand them.”

“I do _not_ dumb things down for you,” the Doctor said and he actually looked rather offended. “People learn in all different ways. I just happen to know the best ways to explain things to you. That’s all.”

“S’alright,” Rose told him, more concerned with the sensation of blood rushing to her head than questions of her intelligence. “I know I’m not smart. Would’ve stayed in school and gotten my A-levels if I was.”

“What, and gone to university instead of working at Henrik’s?” the Doctor said, pointedly closing his book and setting it aside. “I’d say that given what you’re getting to learn now by travelling with me that you made a _very_ good decision by not staying in school.”

“If I’d had a teacher like you when I was at school maybe I might’ve stayed,” Rose admitted, and suddenly the blood flow to her face increased a whole lot more and she sat up very suddenly.

The Doctor didn’t seem to notice her blushing. He calmly took off his glasses and folded them neatly away in his jacket pocket as he asked her, “Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect? Or seen Jurassic Park?”

Rose shook her head to both and the Doctor’s eyebrows shot up.

“Really?” he said, surprised. “You’ve _never_ seen Jurassic Park? Oh it’s a classic! Although,” he added thoughtfully. “They did get all the skin tones wrong for the dinosaurs...”

“Yeah but hang on what do dinosaurs and butterflies have to do with chaos whatchamacallit?” Rose pressed, trying to get him back on track.

“Chaos _theory_ Rose.” the Doctor supplied and then waved a dismissive hand at her. “Oh you must’ve heard of the butterfly effect at some point. You know, a butterfly flaps its wings in say, South America and that miniscule change in air pressure ends up causing a tornado over in China?”

“Oh.” Rose slowly wriggled around onto her stomach and nearly fell off the chair in the process. “I thought that was just some Zen thing, like ‘if a tree falls in the woods and no one’s around to hear it does it actually make a sound’? You know.”

The Doctor stared at her. Rose shifted uncomfortably on her chair.

“It’s...a metaphor.” He said eventually, a little pained.

“Right.” she responded, not knowing what else to say and the Doctor grimaced.

“I’m doing a rubbish job of explaining this aren’t I?”

Rose offered him an apologetic smile. “Erm...yeah. A bit.”

Exhaling his displeasure, the Doctor folded his long legs underneath himself and then propped his chin up on his hand to think.

“Chaos theory’s...well it’s the study of nonlinear dynamics but basically it’s trying to measure something that’s impossible to actually measure. At least in theory I mean. The whole point of chaos theory is to try and use deterministic equations to make sense of things, to try and find patterns where logically there shouldn’t be any because the systems they’re being applied to are in essence unpredictable. Does that make sense?”

“So...order out of chaos then?” Rose guessed.

“Yeahhh...” the Doctor conceded to her point but he didn’t look entirely happy about it. “That’s...a very oversimplified version of it. The thing is that chaos doesn’t have quite the same meaning as chaos theory because the two main components of chaos theory are that everything relies upon an underlying sense of order, otherwise up would be down and there’d be nothing to differentiate you from me or the TARDIS from say, a plastic bucket. Chaos...is just chaotic. Really.”

“Really?” Rose said, mock serious. The Doctor, luckily, was far too caught up in explaining to really notice.

“But the interesting thing about chaos theory it doesn’t matter how big or small something is, by changing the environment around it – even though the change might seem random – if you know how to look at it the right way applying the rights laws and rules, you can find logic and order in something that seems...well, chaotic.”

Rose clicked. “Like forecasting the weather!”

The Doctor looked stunned and then unaccountably pleased.

“Oh you are clever!” he said proudly. “Weather forecasting – perfect! Simple! Why didn’t I think of that? Economics too. Stock market _thrives_ on the application of chaos theory! And don’t even get me started on humans and their emotions!” He guffawed but then instantly grew serious. “Honestly I don’t understand the way you people work sometimes. I just can’t figure you out. _That_ , that is chaos theory. The human race.”

He puzzled at her and Rose wondered at the honest confusion in his eyes. Was it really that hard to figure out? For an alien she thought that he understood humans quite well. Well. Sometimes.

Instead of opening up that particular can of worms though she asked, “So why’re you reading about it then? I mean don’t you already know everything that’s gonna happen in advance? You bein’ the Lord of Time and all.”

“Oh. Only when it’s a fixed point,” he told her. “I guess you could say that the chaos part of chaos theory is what happens when time’s in flux. I mean, that said, even with a fixed point there’s a certain amount of chaotic factors. Case in point, I was in San...” he froze and then threw himself to his feet so violently that Rose jumped and then fell off her chair. The Doctor was there in a second, a manic bundle of energy that pulled her to her feet, almost dislocating her shoulder in his exuberance.

Bolting from the library they crashed through the TARDIS together, hand in hand, until they reached the console room where the Doctor all but tackled the controls.

“We goin’ somewhere?” Rose asked, bemused.

“We certainly are,” the Doctor told her distractedly. “Can you grab that button there? No. No the one next to that one.”

“This one?”

“...no. On the other side. That’s the one! Hold that down...” he brushed a hand lightly over her back as he leaned around her, jiggered a lever and then swung back around her to crank the handbrake.

They landed with the customary dull thud and Rose bounded eagerly down the ramp. The Doctor was in a playful mood though now and he charged around her to get his coat, still beating her to the door despite his detour. Grinning at her he darted outside and she quickly followed, hastily shutting the door behind her.

“Where are we?” she wondered. They seemed to have landed in a narrow alleyway. So narrow in fact that there wasn’t an inch of space either side of the TARDIS. All alleyways tended to look alike but a cursory glance to the end of it and the street beyond revealed what looked like any other residential street on Earth. Maybe a bit posher than the Estate but that certainly wasn’t a difficult title to achieve.

“San Francisco,” the Doctor called back to her, lingering on the threshold. “Come here.”

Rose did. Several cars zoomed up and down the very steep hill and then a truck trundled intently past.

“What’re we waiting for?” Rose asked but the Doctor had leant forward intently, like a bloodhound scenting a rabbit. His hair stood on end, his eyes were all but popping, his whole body was tensed with barely suppressed energy, like he was about to bolt at any second. “Doctor?” she said, worried that he might be about to do a runner on her.

“That truck,” he mumbled intently, just as it disappeared from sight. “That’s what we’re waiting for.”

“The truck?” Rose said in disbelief just as the Doctor leant completely out of the alley and a huge grin blossomed on his face as he whooped in triumph. She leant out too, trying to follow his gaze but nothing about the truck seemed out of the ordinary.

“Right on time,” the Doctor said gleefully. “Oh I am brilliant!”

“What d’you mean on time?” Rose demanded. “Doctor...”

And then the double doors at the back of it fell open and Rose’s mouth dropped open as gravity took over.

At least half of the cardboard boxes fell out the back. Some of them began rolling awkwardly down the hill, some of them were stopped by parked cars.

And some of them exploded.

If her mouth hadn’t already been open Rose’s jaw would have dropped at the sight. It took her a moment to register what the explosions of colourful dots were that had escaped from the boxes but when she realised she laughed out loud in joy, in awe at the sight of hundreds of thousands of rubber bouncy balls in every imaginable colour shooting up into the air and then scattering their way down the street like some demented swarm of insects.

They bumped and twirled, ricocheted off cars and people and buildings, bounced high or skipped along or rolled, but all of them leaping and bounding, uncontrolled and gorgeous.

After the maelstrom had passed them and they were left with only a detritus of the few balls that had gotten left behind, Rose turned slowly to the Doctor. He was absolutely _grinning_ from ear to ear.

“That,” he told her triumphantly, leaning down and plucking up a stray pink bouncy ball that had rolled right up to the toe of his right trainer, “Is chaos theory. Right here in my hand! Who knew that this pink ball would roll right up to us? It might have ricocheted off any of the other balls, or off cars or walls but ultimately it ended up here, in my hand. Totally planned that of course. I know pink’s your favourite.”

He winked at her and then tossed the bouncy ball up, catching it easily and he looked so pleased with himself that Rose couldn’t help but laugh as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with great delight.

“Right,” the Doctor managed to splutter. “Well. Wasn’t expecting that. Suppose there might’ve been variables...didn’t consider, erm...”

She kissed him again. And then again when he handed her the pilfered, pink bouncy ball.

“You know,” he said faintly. “I think I might be able to see a pattern forming here?”

“Oh shut up,” Rose told him as she looped her arms around his neck and went up on tiptoe, the bouncy ball tight in her fist.

And whilst everyone else on a hilly street in San Francisco wondered at the chaos of a million bouncy balls careering down a hill, two people stood in an alleyway and for one tiny moment they made order out of chaos.

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/155122168@N03/37405096564/in/dateposted/)


End file.
